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We got going at a decent hour and followed the valley south for approx 40km. Then we turned off and headed towards the mountains.
We wound our way up and over the mountains. On the other side was a set of switchbacks down and a cool statue.
As we approached Chavin we noticed the fields all the way up the mountain side.
The Chavin de Huantar area has been occupied since at least 3000 BC. With major ruins dating back to 1200 B.C. Longggg before any Incas ever existed. We drove through town but didnt stop at the ruins. Very old town.
Then we headed up a rough gravel road, up and over another mountain pass. It was a little slow going.
Near the top we entered a mine site. The guard let us through.
Huge amount of rock being moved.
On the way down we came across this cargo truck. It looked liked he lost his brakes and tried to dump it into the hill. Luckily nobody was hurt. We gave them some of our water and reported the accident to the mine at the bottom of the hill.
As we made our way through the mine site, various guards would point us in the right direction. After we had talked to the first gaurd and he figured out where we were trying to go he radioed ahead to all the rest of them so we just cruised on by all the pointing mine security guys trusting they were leading us the right way.
We continued on to La Union then down to Huanuco on the Peruvian Death Road! Unfortunately, we started driving into a thunderstorm so we didnt get many photos. The towns on this route were tiny with no hotels. It took us about 5 hours to do 135km. We pulled into Huanuco around 8:00pm. The road was one lane paved, but had two direction traffic! Not to mention countless switchbacks and blind corners, no guard rails and steep cliffs with chunks of road missing randomly from sliding down into the abyss. It was intense.
To top it off we had to cross three flooded out sections. In Peru, they design the roads with water crossings. These special water crossings usually are made of concrete and are in the valley between to mountains (where they meet).
At the first water crossing we came across a car backing away... but it didnt look so bad. We crossed with little difficulty.
The second looked a little more intense. There were several vehicles stopped. Its not just that there is water flowing across the road.... its the several hundred foot cliff at the end of the concrete.
The third crossing was in pitch black! There were several cars and trucks stopped including a semi. The water was flowing so fast across the road large boulders were being pushed off the cliff. The locals told us we would have to wait at least an hour. After about 20 minutes a guy in a 4x4 truck decides to try it... he makes it. We decide to give it a go. Talk about a adrenaline rush! We made it!
We had plans to meet Toby at his apartment (contact from advrider.com) but we couldn't find his house.
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